Episode 15
Summary Earlier that same evening, Gandharva revealed his plan to Maruna, to provoke Agni into using a powerful transcendental skill to use up his summoner's life span, resulting in her death, which would cause Agni to return to the god realm and leave the city of Atera open to attack. He notes that only he knows the god's weakness and how to make him angry. Maruna is concerned Gandharva might end up getting killed in the process as he is already severely weakened; in fact, it rather seems like Gandharva has a death wish, wanting to follow Shakuntala. Angered, the nastika tells him that his daughter is definitely alive and he should never speak of her that way. Maruna quickly apologizes, only to be told that his opinion is understandable, since here is a pathetically-weakened nastika going up against the wrath of a god, after all. Maruna remarks that he did not mean that, either, but Gandharva agrees that he is indeed weak, but he should not worry—he does not plan on letting Agni kill him. After all, putting out a fire is his speciality. Back in the present, as Maruna observes from the outskirts of the city, he remembers the days when he was still very young and learning how to fly. He was under the tutelage of Gandharva, a nastika, the king of the Gandharva clan, and a friend of his father. When Maruna complained about the heat during his training, Gandharva easily changed the weather and landscape into snow and ice. At the time it was an easy task for him, and Maruna would not be so concerned now if the nastika were only half of what he once was. A sudden explosion brings Maruna's attention back to the present again, and he calmly observes a white flame devouring the city in the distance. An unquenchable fire, resistant to even the hoti varuna spell, engulfs the Magicians Guild, and the guild employees try to evacuate the building, but they cannot access the 5th floor where Asha and Leez are staying. Hungry, sleep-deprived, and hot, Asha uses hoti kubera to strengthen her left arm and smash in Leez's door, after the girl fails to respond to multiple rings of the door bell. Asha yells at Leez to wake up, but she continues to sleep. When the girl calls Asha Mom, the magician informs her she is not at home anymore, but the half-asleep Leez interrupts her, saying that she knows. She knows that she is not at home anymore, and that she does not have a mom anymore, either. She knows. She bids her mom to stay with her a bit longer. Since the girl refuses to wake up, Asha has to dress her and then carry her to the window. She lets Leez continue her delusion of lying in bed and being with her mom. She then casts bhavati vayu and walks down from the 5th floor using little steps of swirling air, wishing Leez sweet dreams and telling her that she will have to wake up soon enough, so if this stops her crying for a while... so be it. 1-15 2nd stage Maruna.png|no development 1-15 Leez half-dreams.png|pleasant dreams 1-15 bhavati vayu.png|fire escape Currygom's comment She wanted to carry her comfortably, but lacked an arm. Afterword ■ The liquid Gandharva splashed around wasn't anything special, just alcohol. Please read Gandharva's profile on the blog under "Main Characters". Profiles are added as the story progresses. ■ This room at the Magicians Guild is locked with a magic seal so it's difficult to break, but it can be broken, by a physically strong sura, half, or magician greatly strengthened using hoti kubera magic. (Of course, it's different depending on their skills.) But if it's a Class A room in a Magicians Guild branch, they would use a good seal... ㅇ.ㅇ;; As Asha predicted, they could've changed the seal in order to allow Ruche to enter the room, or Asha's magic could've been unpredictably strong—either was possible. If a card key is typically used to open the door, it will open normally, but when the seal is broken, the door breaks into many pieces like shards of glass, and the main desk is notified. But the current situation is bad, so they weren't notified... ■ Sometimes someone will break through the wall instead of the doors. The Magicians Guild building, unlike other buildings, doesn't have exact physically-correct space. (If you look outside rooms 511 and 512, the doors are right next to each other, but inside the room the wall is nowhere near the door). If you break through the wall to enter, who knows where you'll end up inside the room. If you make a mistake, someone inside the room could get hit by debris and die... The Magicians Guild building was built this way because it required many rooms even though there isn't a lot of available space, but also because of a dungeon used in the magic exam. The Atera Magicians Guild branch doesn't hold magic exams, but there are branches that do. ■ Even though there's a great fire outside... the inside of the building is safe, even with weak-looking windows. It was built to withstand damage from the outside by transcendentals or magic. (Of course, as Asha said, there are limits.) Before the Cataclysm, suras were a great threat, so every building was very sturdily built. But afterwards, all the superior suras had disappeared (or so everyone was told), so they weren't built as sturdily as before. Since the Cataclysm, newer buildings crumble easily and can't withstand many magic attacks... The brand that does the most construction is Brimo. I will write about the Creation brand companies after all ten brands appear. ■ The interior of the room was decorated by Ruche according to Asha's tastes, such as the paintings on the wall and the layout of the room... She prefers the floor over the bed, surprisingly. ■ Magicians have a limited number of uses per day for each magic spell. In some situations, such as during an emergency where you don't know what magic you'll need, you would safely keep some important spells unused. Asha also saves her teleports (hoti vayu magic), but she used them all up today trying to escape from Maruna. So she's using a different spell. (Leez mentioned that Asha couldn't teleport anymore in the beginning of Episode 7.) ■ Like other spells with limited uses, bhavati vayu can be used in many different ways. You can use it for jumping, parachuting, walking on water, or walking on air(!). You can carry or clean things. Some experts use it for magic attacks. You might think that you could fly with it, but you can't. It's difficult to maintain altitude and it doesn't last long. There is another spell that can be used for flying, though. Notes * Agni becomes stronger when he is angry, but that also increases the drain on his summoner. * In this episode, we learn that Gandharva is somewhat of a father figure to Maruna, which is why they seem to have a casual relationship. * As mentioned in previous episode notes, there are in fact, several reasons why Gandharva is now weakened. * In one scene, there are some curry mushrooms growing near Maruna's feet. * There is a hidden Currygom in one of the portraits in Leez's room. * The guild branches mentioned in the afterword which have magic exams are Mistyshore, Rindhallow, and Eloth. * Show/Hide Spoiler The flying spell Currygom alludes to in the afterword is bhavati kubera. * Show/Hide Spoiler Brimo is the Creation brand headed by Ruche's sister, Riche Seiran. References